NEW DELHI -- In a proposal submitted to the Bharatiya Janata
Party-led government, the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh has recommended
that schools in big cities work for longer hours to teach children more
languages, and to make life easier for their working parents.
The
RSS proposal, submitted to the Human and Resource Development Ministry,
also points out that co-education will have to be discontinued if
working hours of schools are extended.
It has also emphasised that the new policy should stress on “Indianisation of Education,” The Indian Express reported.
The
right wing outfit has now suggested that schools in metropolises work
12 hours a day (7.30 AM – 7.30 PM) to enable children learn more
languages, apart from relieving "their (working) parents from the task
of making children do homework... or (the) need for (sending) them to
tuitions," according to the IE report.
The
RSS and other right-wing organisations, collectively called the Sangh
Parivar, have grown more vocal about policy matters after the Narendra
Modi-led BJP government came to power at the Centre in May 2014.
The ruling party and its ideological partners have been accused by the opposition of trying to "saffronise" the education system.
Earlier
in the month, Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shikshan Sansthan, an
affiliate body of the RSS, said it wanted to set up a model school in
every block in the country. Formed in 1977, the Sansthan now runs 12,364
schools and 49 colleges across the country.
Emphasising the
importance of learning all languages including English, the RSS in its
proposal also made a case for students learning Sanskrit from mid-school
onwards, saying it will help them speak and write their mother tongues
perfectly without "the assistance of foreign words."
It also reasoned that learning Sanskrit will help improve the children’s pronunciation and spelling skills.
“It’s
easy for children to learn languages in childhood. That’s why they
should be taught various languages — their mother tongue, Sanskrit,
Hindi, English and regional languages,” said the Express report, quoting
from the proposal.
The RSS also argued that extending school hours would give students time to extra-curricular activities.
The
Hindutva group has also advocated improvements in teachers’ training by
introducing a minimum 50%-mark threshold for all aspirants who will
then be selected through an entrance exam.
Other suggestions included biometric attendance system and CCTV cameras in classrooms.

Map of L K Advani's Rath Yatra of 1990

About Us / Disclaimer

This is a collaborative space run by an informal collective of people from across India and elsewhere. The blog was started many years ago under the aegis of South Asia Citizens Web. All web content placed here is done in public interest; it may be freely used by people for non commercial purposes. Please remember to give credit to original copyrighted sources and seek permission for further use.Disclaimer:Posting of content here does not constitute endorsement by the Communalism Watch Cooperative.